Sun Aug 14 2011 03:06Mysore Again:
As soon as Jodi arrived, we took off for Mysore. We stayed with Nagalakshmi (Leonard's mother-in-law) and saw all the sights in a couple days. Then we went to Wonder-La on the way home. The kids took turns throwing up, and Jodi and I both had colds. There was a bit of rain, but we slogged through and managed to see a lot.

We went straight to Mysore Palace. We walked hurriedly through the palace, then took Jodi on her long-awaited elephant ride. She rode with Maggie, then Maggie and I rode a camel, and Jodi and Dalton had a camel ride. Jodi also got a blessing from the elephant, which she says was the best elephant encounter ever (I'm hoping for two more during her visit). At this point they kicked us out, so we didn't get to have a look at the front of the palace, but we got what we came for.

We headed to Nagalakshmi's and had an Indian dinner she'd prepared. Yum! The next morning we went to Chamundi Hill. We walked around the temple, and did some souvenir shopping. Jodi's goal was to buy the weirdest thing possible for Franco, and I think we succeeded. We went straight to the Mysore Zoo. Maggie sat in the stroller the entire time. We especially enjoyed watching the giraffes.

After the zoo, we entrusted our lives to Sandeep (I guess we do that all the time) and let him take us to a hotel for lunch. In India, the word "hotel" is often used for "restaurant" but this was actually a hotel restaurant. We had a South Indian thali - a meal with rice, Indian bread, and little dishes with all kinds of gravies. It was really good, and only one or two things were too spicy for us.

After lunch we went to Devaraja Market and did some more souvenir shopping, as well as sight-seeing. We bought a couple more things. Maggie screamed for apple juice. We went to a grocery store and finally found some. Since it was still early and the kids had already missed a nap, we went to the Rail Museum on Sumana's recommendation. The kids loved it! There is a train ride, and lots of train cars and engines that the kids can climb in, pretend to drive, lean out the windows etc. They had a really good time.

We had Pizza Hut for dinner, and an Indian breakfast the next morning. Then we headed out, and stopped at Wonder La on our way home. We forced Dalton onto a couple kiddie rides, went on the Sky Wheel, and then to the water park. We got to go in the Ladies & Kids only pools, which was fun. Dalton went down a water slide by himself, but Maggie was too busy whining. This time they let us take Dalton on the lazy river, so we went twice (dragging Maggie on the first time, and off the second). Then it was time for the wave pool, so we did that until we were too cold and tired. It was a long drive home, but John heated dinner up for us, and had bought flowers and an adorable Kyli-sized dress.

Maggie threw up all night, so we stayed home this morning and John took Jodi and Dalton to church. I'm very happy that Jodi took Dalton (who is also still sick) to Relief Society and that he snuggled her. I don't have to worry about him warming back up to his aunties and uncles!